Saturday, 6 May 2017

I am a wheelchair user, and was on a cruise around Brazil and up the
Amazon to Manaus in March. It was difficult to find shore excursions
suitable for wheelchair users, as I cannot access a normal tour bus
owing to the steep steps. I found Gil's website some time before we left
home, and following a number of email exchanges we booked ourselves on
his wetlands day trip. Gil was very apologetic in advance about his
perceived lacked of wheelchair facilities, however he need not have
bothered. We were met at the port in Santarem and transported by taxi to
his river boat. Yes, the general facilities for wheelchirs were not
ideal, however his crew memebrs made sure that this was no problem for
us, and I was successfully transferred to his river boat. The boat even
had an ingeniously devised disabled toilet on board, and it was easy to
see the sights as we spent the day cruising around the wetlands. We saw a
fantastic variety of wildlife and plants on our cruise, and I even had
the opportunity to catch a piranha during our lunch stop. Gil and his
crew were great at pointing out the natural wonders along our way. This
daytrip was definitely the highlight of our visit to Brazil - Gil's
enthusiasm for welcoming guests and looking after the precious
environment of the Amazon knows no bounds. If you want to see the best
of the Amazon then I definitely recommed this tour.